Pediatric visits to urgent-care centers increase

HealthDay News – Pediatric visits to urgent-care centers have increased, and new guidelines to help improve overall emergency care for children have been provided by the AAP.

Services provided by urgent care clinics in regards to pediatric care were examined by Gregory P. Conners, MD, MPH, MBA and colleagues in a policy statement published in Pediatrics. They issued the following recommendations for urgent-care centers treating children:

Establish programs for monitoring and improving the quality of emergency care for children

Consider and communicate the scope of care that the clinic can and should provide

Develop principles that guide the extent of evaluation and management of complaints

Offer guidance on what to do in severe cases, especially when it may be inappropriate for an urgent-care clinic to provide care

Provide training on managing children, including those with special needs

"Well-managed freestanding urgent-care facilities can enhance the provision of urgent services to the children of their communities, be integrated into the medical community, and provide a safe, effective adjunct to, but not a replacement for, the medical home," noted the authors.

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